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Daniel Randall Profile picture
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22 Jun, 4 tweets, 1 min read
This thread seems right. Some of the flack OJ is getting for “platforming” GG is unreasonable IMO, there’s a journalistic case for interviewing him. But if you see your journalism as fundamentally connected to your politics, as OJ does, the considerations in this thread matter.
I’m not accusing Owen of this, but there’s still too much “well, Galloway has gone off the rails a bit, but he’s still basically good on anti-imperialism/Palestine/Iraq, etc.”-type sentiment around on the left.
He’s not “good” on those things - he never was. His “anti-imperialism” is inseparable from his vicarious nationalism/sycophancy towards authoritarian regimes. His politics on “Palestine” are what impelled him to tweet about “no Israel flags on the cup” when Spurs (?!) didn’t win.
His approach to Muslim communities has always been based on reactionary, conservative communalism. There’s nothing in anything he’s done that the left or labour movement should learn from, except as an example of what not to do.

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More from @therubykid

Daniel Randall Profile picture
20 May
I’ve always stressed that antisemitism on the left has to be distinguished from the racialised antisemitism of the far right. Whilst the former is ideologically toxifying, the latter poses a far greater physical threat to Jewish safety. (1/9)
That’s still true, but if Williamson’s “Zionist teachers are violating children’s rights” rhetoric turns into any sort of serious campaign, I think that could also have implications for Jewish safety. (2/9)
The only way such a campaign could be enacted would be by demanding Jewish, or presumed-to-be-Jewish, teachers declare their views on Israel/Palestine, and if they refuse to respond, or fail to meet the “anti-Zionist” standard set by Williamson and co, hounding them. (3/9)
Read 9 tweets
Daniel Randall Profile picture
17 May
Seen this go viral. I’m sure the person with placard had good intentions, and obviously I don’t know what their grandfather’s beliefs are/were, but I think formulations like this are problematic and sail close to the sentiment I referred to here: (1/8)
It’s likely some of the people dropping bombs on Gaza *are* descendants of Holocaust survivors. And? Should Allied armies have made survivors sign a waiver on the way out of camps? “You can leave as long as you promise your descendants will never do anything oppressive”? (2/8)
There’s an implication that having been a victim of attempted genocide should imbue you with a kind of heightened morality. Why? In fact, the conclusion many Jews drew from the Holocaust was that they would never be safe until they had their own, armed, state. (3/8)
Read 8 tweets
Daniel Randall Profile picture
7 May
I want Labour to run on maximally left-wing policies, every time — because I think those policies are *right* and must be fought for, whether or not they’re electorally expedient. But “we lost because the policies weren’t left-wing enough” takes obscure more than they clarify.
“I would’ve voted Labour if they were fighting for renationalised utilities, a £15/hour minimum wage, more rights for migrants and asylum seekers, and the abolition of all anti-union laws, but they’re not... so I’m voting Tory.” That’s not really what’s going on here, is it?
It’s actually patronising to people to assume that they’re just voting Tory out of some unthinking reflex or displacement activity, rather than because they’re genuinely convinced by the nationalist political narrative the Tories are offering.
Read 4 tweets
Daniel Randall Profile picture
6 May
Seems weird Starmer won’t sign personally if he’s instructing other to do so. But, whilst not signing a letter against fire and rehire is bad, scabbing on strikes against it (which is what Unite, at the direction of a leadership including Beckett, did in British Gas) is worse.
I don’t believe in the concept of “sin”, but if I did, crossing a picket line would be cardinal. And it’s even worse if done in exchange for a sweetheart deal for more facility time, apparently by overruling rank-and-file activists who wanted to support another union’s strike.
This is anecdotal, impressionistic, and perhaps superficial, but I can’t help but feel it says a lot about the health of the labour movement left that Beckett’s militant posturing seems to get boosted and amplified more than GMB activists’ attempts to hold Unite to account.
Read 5 tweets
Daniel Randall Profile picture
10 Apr
Yes, republicanism is a marginal, minority opinion in Britain, especially England, right now. I get the impulse of some on the left to take a “let’s pick our battles” attitude. But it won’t ever gain ground unless those who believe in it argue for it openly and consistently.
The monarchy is a key part of the ideological infrastructure of the state. It’s a feudal relic in some ways, but in others very much imbricated with contemporary capitalism. The British aristocracy managed to “bourgeoisify” itself more successfully than its counterparts.
I’m not into performative animus towards individual members of the ruling class (it’s a waste of energy, largely), but nor do I accept that it’s somehow distasteful or not appropriate to talk about the social institutions someone was part of in the wake of their death.
Read 5 tweets
Daniel Randall Profile picture
5 Apr
Read this vital article by @promiseli_.
Reading @promiseli_’s comments about the left must acknowledge how demonisation of China feeds anti-Asian racism whilst also refusing to moderate our own (democratic, internationalist) critique of the Chinese state, I’m struck by some similarities with antisemitism/Israel.
To me there’s a parallel in terms of how some on the left refuse to understand how irrational demonisation of Israel/Zionism feeds antisemitism, *and* how some on the right, including many Zionists, insist opposing antisemitism has to entail defence of the Israeli state.
Read 8 tweets

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